I have a 2008 Heritage Softtail Classic. Bought Rush slipons this weekend. Thought this would be simple. Was told to change the pipes, and ride. Just change the air filter. My question......how do I get the stock pipes off the header pipes?

 

Loosen the clamps, remove the mounting bolts and wiggle and pull until the damn things come off. They aren't "slip on" don't believe the hype. It is easy though.

 

As he said above, losin the clamps at front of the stock slip-ons, wiggly and pull. Make sure you take the support bracket bolts out. My old springer took me like 20 mins to get the damn things off. Make sure to pull the baffles out of your new ones.... Rush pipes are kind quite if you as me. I had em the Springer

 

For me, I wouldn't advise anyone to pull the baffles out.
I've had the 2'' baffles for 3yrs and believe me there not quiet, they'll set off car alarms of cars parked on the street and even the wifes car parked in the driveway when I idle pass it....the 1 3/4 are not as deep sounding but almost as loud...

Plus U'll also lose TQ in the lower RPM's.
As they are wrapped with fiberglass they will tear if not removed and replaced carefully..
I tried it once and IMO they sounded like chit...

Are far as I am concerned there as nice sounding pipes as any,, nice deep rumble and have a really good tone when twisting the grip, still not bad at all at crusing speeds...

 

Here's a couple of more ideas. Take the header pipe and muffler off together, gently clamp the muffler in a vise, wrap it with towels or something to prevent scratching. Try to twist the header pipe out of the muffler. Once the pipe or muffler starts to move it will get much easier, progress is very slow at first, but keep trying to move the pipe. The bend in the pipes will give you some leverage. Also you might try taking a large screwdriver and insert the tip or side of the tip in the slots cut in the muffler where it joins the pipe, obviously move the clamp out of the way as much as possible. If you are able to widen that split even slightly it will help. You might try to bang on the outlet end of the mufflers with a rubber hammer, you're trying to move the muffler up and down or inside outside. Sometimes this will break it loose. Sometimes they can be a bear to get off, be patient and keep at it, they will come loose eventually. I hope this helps, I've been down this road a few times on my bike. I almost forgot, you can use one of those strap wrenches, the kind with the rubber straps around the mufflers to twist it a little. Be warned, they may scratch the mufflers a little if you don't put something soft between the muffler and the rubber strap.

 

If the pipes are hard to remove from the header, spray some WD40 at the joint where they slip together, then wiggle and pull them off.

Wipe all of the oil, fingerprints, etc. from the new pipes BEFORE starting the motor or you could burn oil marks into the chrome.